Dennis Pye 700

[Nobby]

You don't see many modern built Chapmans rods...because 95% of their output goes to America where they are holding their own in a highly competetive market. There is just the two brothers now though......I don't know for how long they will continue.

Years ago, when they employed 15 staff as well, they struggled to be competetive against cheap imports by firms like Shakespeare ( Booooo! ) and Milbro ( Booooo again! ), so it might be that you don't see them as quality makers.


But enough other tackle firms did and you'd be surprised how many 'names' bought their cane from Chapmans.

Their famous 500 was built down to a price, but it didn't suffer for it and the cheap fittings and low number of rings have invariably been bettered by modern owners of the rod who rate them highly. That they are still here to be enjoyed must say something about the quality....?


Returning to the modern rods, I've examined a few very closely indeed at the factory and the build quality is extraordinary and the cane has a tight action that even others who buy their cane from them can't match, in my opinion.


If I have a rod I need a new tip section for....I 'phone the lads first...and so far, quite amazingly, they've come up trumps every time.

[Aquaerial]

I'd go with that Nobby as I can only judge against their older rods and there is little or nothing wrong with the blanks its just the finishing.
Well qualified Sir

[Beresford]

I have a modern built Chapman, an 11' carp rod and it's superb. In the past I never really rated Chapmans for the following reasons:

Kevin Clifford wrote that they were terrible in the first issue of his book "A history of carp fishing'. Only an opinion but for some reason it stuck with me.

I looked at a lot, and I mean a lot, of Chapman 500s and they all had bad sets and this seemed to confirm what Clifford wrote.

I didn't like the built down to a price aspect.

It's taken me many years and some convincing to regard them, as I now do, of making great cane but I remain wary of buying any vintage Chapman rod without inspecting it first.

Aquaerial, I'd be interested to know why you rate the MKIV S/U over the Dennis Pye. I understood the former to have a test curve of about 2 1/4 but the Chapman Denis Pye to be very much heavier at 3 to even 4lbs.

[Aquaerial]

Interestingly I've just come from a PAC meeting and we have been discussing this very thing, well those of us who fish cane have anyway. The Pye blank is a good one but it does not take on the curve that the S/U does as comfortably and whilst both will play anything at a distance it is under the tip that a cat or occasionally a big Pike will test a cane rod to the limit. One could use longer landing net handles but this is not easily done with Cats when on ones own. I have not checked my rods for the actual test curve so that would need to be carried out to provide you with a more technical answer but overall the S/U is finished to a higher standard and the feel of the rod gives greater confidence with fish like this.

Wels Cat-resized .JPG

The Pye has a greater resilience but then it also seems to want to lock and fight back and as a consequence one feels it might just let go. In fairness to Chapmans it was not designed for cats. Big Pike have a surge to them in their first run which sometimes has to be turned without pulling hooks and as I said they can be a handful under the tip sometimes also. I've known them to come in like a log only to wake up under the tip.
Does that make sense for you?..its hard to explain, you would have to feel both really and fish them.

[Paul Cook]

The Dennis Pye 700 is very a good rod and 10 or more years ago they could be picked up for anything between 60 - 80 quid , wish it was the same nowadays . Not being a pike fan at all , mine was used for carp fishing in a very snaggy lake and that coupled with a LRH no3 were the ideal tools for the job . If I could have had the test curve of the LRH but the 10ft length of the Pye rod then I would have had the ideal rod for that sort of fishing .
As with regards to finishing , I agree with Nobby , the chapmans range were built to a price in a very competitive market and back in those days they were viewed literally as just fishing rods without much thought to the high gloss glass like finishes that we have come to expect from a new build cane rod .
I have worked on a lot of the original Chapmans range of rods over the years and to be honest , they have all mostly been in very good condition as far as the cane goes with just a few where the tip has taken on a set , no more than the usual that you would find from other makers rods from that period .
I do recall the Kevin Clifford remark from one of my favourite all time books , the History of Carp fishing but out of all the cane manufacturers from our past, Chapmans are still going strong today , a true testament to their skills .

[SeanM]

Aquaerial, I'd be interested to know why you rate the MKIV S/U over the Dennis Pye. I understood the former to have a test curve of about 2 1/4 but the Chapman Denis Pye to be very much heavier at 3 to even 4lbs.

I measured the test curve of the 700 I restored at around 3lb. Obviously this will vary from rod to rod and from measurer to measurer given the difficulty of deciding when the 90 degree bend has been reached, but it is a good indication. I enjoyed using the rod, but its a little on the weighty side for the sort of roving approach that I take to my river pike fishing.

After an adventurous journey my old rod is now battling catfish in South Africa.

[GazTheAngler]

Sean,

Is yours the one smallscale bought?

[SeanM]

Yes. It got "lost" on the way, but he recovered it eventually.

[Aquaerial]

If nothing else this has revealed to me that I'm a buyer not a seller and an angler not an investor as without any axe to grind I have spoken honestly about how I feel the rods deal with the job in hand. Whilst we are mostly in agreement I'm amazed at the knowledge and detail about equipment you guys have which humbles me and yes I'm delighted Chapman's are deservedly still flying the flag.
Maybe its anglers or maybe just me but I'm continually asking questions of myself and one cropped up today that kind of links to this thread. I went to Godmanchester to get my river ticket for the Ouse and whilst I took some rods did not fish as the river was gin clear. The guy in the tackle shop told me about a neighbour of his that was selling a Wallis Wizard and it turns out to be the one on eBay. To cut a long story short the owner is a delightful precision engineer living in a magnificent period property and to my untrained eye the rod looked authentic in every detail but more importantly the balance and feel of that rod is something to behold. I cannot recall holding a cane rod that feels like that ever so my question is why with all these skills we have in this country can we not produce rods like that now?

[PershoreHarrier]

I note that the Dennis Pye 700 rod was produced as a two piece and also a three piece (separate handle) and I wonder if anyone on here has had the opportunity to compare both versions as I thought I might try and find one for my pike spinning and plug fishing. I used to use a James MkIV for my pike fishing but became concerned about the amount of continuous strain I was putting on the rod which ended up with a set in it which thankfully Barder resolved when he refurbished the rod for me years ago.

I ended up buying a 2 and 3/4lb tc Diawa C$$$$N Whisker rod for my pike fishing and it has served me very well but I would like to replace this with something more traditional.

I am sure I read in one of Walker's books that ideally fishing rods should be made as single entities without sections and ferrules and the like but practicality dictated that they are made in sections which are then put together. My thinking therefore is simply that where possible the number of sections making up a rod should be kept to a minimum.